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Friday, March 26, 2010

I Didn't Say It

Sinead O'Connor, on the Pope and the epidemic of Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandals:"There should be a full criminal investigation of the Catholic hierarchy of any country in which this has been an issue. There should be a full criminal investigation of the Vatican. There should be a full criminal investigation of the pope. The pope should stand down for the fact that he did not act in a Christian fashion to protect children, and for the fact that his organization acted to preserve their business interests decade after decade rather than be concerned about the interests of children, and for showing so much disrespect for Christ, God, the victims, the rest of us, their own clergy. . . . The Vatican and the pope need to get on their knees and confess the full truth in the same language they make us use in Mass. . . . They need to get on their knees, open everything up, be transparent, tell the truth, ask the people for forgiveness and prayers."

James Cameron on Glenn Beck:"Glenn Beck is a fucking asshole. I've met him. He called me the anti-Christ and not about 'Avatar.' He hadn't even seen 'Avatar' yet. I don't know if he has seen it...I think, you know what, he may or may not be an asshole, but he certainly is dangerous, and I'd love to have a dialogue with him...He's dangerous because his ideas are poisonous. I couldn't believe when he was on CNN. I thought, what happened to CNN? Who is this guy? Who is this madman? And then of course he wound up on Fox News, which is where he belongs, I guess...[The right wing are] just people ranting away, lost in their little bubbles of reality, steeped in their own hatred, their own fear and hatred. That's where it all comes from. Let's just call it out. Let's have a public discussion. That's what movies are supposed to do, you know, you can have a mindless entertainment film that doesn't affect anybody. I wasn't interested in that...Anybody that is a global-warming denier at this point in time has got their head so deeply up their ass I'm not sure they could hear me."

Barney Frank on the anti-gay slurs used by Teabaggers during the health care debate:"There was a great deal of shouting, you know, waving of fists and signs, and sort of people getting very close and yelling. And a number of the comments were homophobic.... What occurs to me is, there are kids all over the country watching this, not as a game but as real life. And watching so-called respectable politicians cheering them on. And that was just discouraging, that at this point in our history, we couldn't have a rational debate with these kind of thug tactics that were being used.''

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin on DADT and ENDA:"Certainly there are members of Congress who are nervous because of the economy, the rate of joblessness. Across the country, people are agitated. On the other hand, my constituents want to see bolder and quicker change, and so I actually see positive signs to follow through [on DADT and ENDA]."

Carmen Electra, on her breast implants:"I had breast surgery over 10 years ago…which took a bit of time to get used to. I didn't want to go as big as that. It's nice that I don't have to wear a push-up bra any more, but I could have left myself alone."

Magician James Randi, known as 'The Amazing Randi', coming out of the closet:"Well, here goes. I really resent the term, but I use it because it’s recognized and accepted. I’m gay. From some seventy years of personal experience, I can tell you that there’s not much “gay” about being homosexual. For the first twenty years of my life, I had to live in the shadows, in a culture that was--at least outwardly--totally hostile to any hint of that variation of life-style....Gradually, the general attitude that I’d perceived around me began to change, and presently I find that there has emerged a distinctly healthy acceptance of different social styles of living--except, of course, in cultures that live in constant and abject fear of divine retribution for infractions found in the various Holy Books...In another two decades, I’m confident that young people will find themselves in a vastly improved atmosphere of acceptance....I'm in excellent company: Barney Frank, Oscar Wilde, Stephen Fry, Ellen DeGeneres, Rachel Maddow, are just a few of those who were in my thoughts as I pressed the key that placed this on Swift and before the whole world…"

Drag Queen Joan Collins on real men in Hollywood:"There's a big difference between the male stars of bygone years and today's slightly metrosexual-looking actors. Johnny Depp, Leonardo Di Caprio and Sean Penn are all wonderful actors, but they are chameleon-like when it comes to their place on the masculinity meter. As for today's TV stars, to me they seem just like ordinary, faceless men cut from the same male cookie-cutter. I don't recognise most of them, and in any case their star doesn't burn brightly for very long on TV nowadays. Viewers are fickle and shows are cast off the networks faster than old bait."

Former Australian High Court Justice, and out gay man, Michael Kirby, from a book of essays about justice issues: "Openness about sexuality helps to destroy the foundation for prejudice and discrimination. One day there will be a big parliamentary apology to gay people for the oppression that was forced on them and the inequalities that were maintained in the law well beyond their use-by date. Just like the delayed 2008 apology to the Aboriginal people of our country."I also do not doubt that, in a comparatively short time, Australia will move towards same-sex civil unions and gay marriage. No one has satisfactorily explained how my 40-year loving relationship with my partner Johan in any way affects (still less undermines) heterosexual marriage. If Australians are now more homophobic than racist, as some recent public opinion polls suggest, this is because Australians have lacked good leadership on this issue."

Lt. Dan Choi on his arrest for chaining himself to a White House fence:"There was no freer moment than being in that prison. It was freeing for me, and I thought of all of the other people that were still trapped - that were still handcuffed and fettered in their hearts. And we might have been caged up physically, but the message was very clear to all of the people who think that equality can be purchased with a donation, or with a cocktail party, or with tokens, that are serving in a public role. We are worth more than tokens. We have absolute value. And when the person who is oppressed by his own country wants to find out how to get that dignity back - being chained up and being arrested - that's how you get your dignity conferred back upon you. And so I think that by actions, my call is to every leader - not just talking gay leaders - I'm talking any leader who believes in America, and the promises of America can be manifest. We're gonna do it again. And we're going to keep doing it until the promises are manifest. And we will not stop. This is a very clear message to President Obama and any other leader who supposes to talk for the American promise and the American people. We will not go away."

Huffington Post blogger and military veteran Rob Smith, on Dan Choi's protest:"Dan Choi will always be that rock star activist that handcuffed himself to the gates of The White House. Of course Dan Choi jumped the shark, and he did it in his military uniform for all the cameras to see. You know what, though? I think what we needed was to see something like this to light a fire under each and every one of us that cares as deeply as he does about Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal, and about full equality in general. This movement needs him as much as it needs me, or Jarrod Chlapowski, or Lt. Col Victor Fehrenbach, or any of the other gay veterans who share our past of silent service knowing that it reflects the present of thousands of gay soldiers currently serving. Maybe it's time to act up all over again. Maybe the rumblings of this being a part of a more coordinated activist effort are true. Maybe it is time to Get Equal."People keep wondering who's going to be the Martin Luther King of the gay rights movement, and that I still don't know, but I think yesterday's actions may have put us one step closer to finding our Malcolm X."